A lateral spin valve reader that includes a detector structure located proximate to a bearing surface and a spin injection structure located away from the bearing surface. The lateral spin valve reader also includes a channel layer extending from the detector structure to the spin injection structure. An exterior cladding, disposed around the channel layer, suppresses spin-scattering at surfaces of the channel layer.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection. Each claim is shown in both the original legal language and a plain English translation.
1. A lateral spin valve reader comprising: a detector structure having a surface that forms a portion of a bearing surface; a first shield in contact with the detector structure; a spin injection structure located away from the bearing surface; a second shield in contact with the spine injection structure; a channel layer extending from the detector structure to the spin injection structure; a tunnel barrier layer between at least one of the detector structure and the channel layer or the spin injection structure and the channel layer; and an exterior cladding, disposed around the channel layer, configured to suppress spin-scattering at surfaces of the channel layer, wherein a thickness of the exterior cladding relative to the channel layer is between about 2.5 nanometers and about 20 nanometers, and wherein a thickness of the tunnel barrier layer is less than the thickness of the exterior cladding.
A lateral spin valve reader has a detector near a bearing surface and a spin injector away from it, connected by a channel layer. A first shield is in contact with the detector structure and a second shield is in contact with the spin injection structure. A tunnel barrier sits between the channel and either the detector or injector. An exterior cladding surrounds the channel to reduce spin-scattering. The cladding's thickness, relative to the channel layer, ranges from 2.5 to 20 nanometers, and the tunnel barrier is thinner than the cladding.
2. The lateral spin valve reader of claim 1 and wherein the exterior cladding comprises an insulator.
The lateral spin valve reader from the previous description, which has a detector near a bearing surface and a spin injector away from it, connected by a channel layer, where a first shield is in contact with the detector structure and a second shield is in contact with the spin injection structure; where a tunnel barrier sits between the channel and either the detector or injector; where an exterior cladding surrounds the channel to reduce spin-scattering; where the cladding's thickness ranges from 2.5 to 20 nanometers, and the tunnel barrier is thinner than the cladding, is improved because the exterior cladding is made of an insulator material.
3. The lateral spin valve reader of claim 2 and wherein the insulator is a high dielectric constant insulator selected from the group consisting of Al 2 O 3 , HfO 2 , TiO 2 , ZrO 2 , Si 3 N 4 , Ta 2 O 5 , one or more Titanates and combinations thereof.
The lateral spin valve reader from the previous description, which has a detector near a bearing surface and a spin injector away from it, connected by a channel layer, where a first shield is in contact with the detector structure and a second shield is in contact with the spin injection structure; where a tunnel barrier sits between the channel and either the detector or injector; where an exterior cladding surrounds the channel to reduce spin-scattering; where the cladding's thickness ranges from 2.5 to 20 nanometers, and the tunnel barrier is thinner than the cladding; where the exterior cladding is made of an insulator material, is improved because the insulator is a high dielectric constant insulator like Al2O3, HfO2, TiO2, ZrO2, Si3N4, Ta2O5, a titanate (or multiple titanates), or combinations of these.
4. The lateral spin valve reader of claim 3 and wherein the one or more Titanates comprise BaTiO 3 and SrTiO 3 .
The lateral spin valve reader from the previous description, which has a detector near a bearing surface and a spin injector away from it, connected by a channel layer, where a first shield is in contact with the detector structure and a second shield is in contact with the spin injection structure; where a tunnel barrier sits between the channel and either the detector or injector; where an exterior cladding surrounds the channel to reduce spin-scattering; where the cladding's thickness ranges from 2.5 to 20 nanometers, and the tunnel barrier is thinner than the cladding; where the exterior cladding is made of a high dielectric constant insulator like Al2O3, HfO2, TiO2, ZrO2, Si3N4, Ta2O5, a titanate (or multiple titanates), or combinations of these, is further improved because the titanate is BaTiO3 or SrTiO3.
5. The lateral spin valve reader of claim 1 and wherein the exterior cladding comprises a semiconductor.
The lateral spin valve reader from the previous description, which has a detector near a bearing surface and a spin injector away from it, connected by a channel layer, where a first shield is in contact with the detector structure and a second shield is in contact with the spin injection structure; where a tunnel barrier sits between the channel and either the detector or injector; where an exterior cladding surrounds the channel to reduce spin-scattering; where the cladding's thickness ranges from 2.5 to 20 nanometers, and the tunnel barrier is thinner than the cladding, is improved because the exterior cladding is made of a semiconductor.
6. The lateral spin valve reader of claim 5 and wherein the semiconductor is selected from the group consisting of AlN, alloys comprising AlN, GaN, alloys comprising GaN, GaAs, alloys comprising GaAs, ZnO, alloys comprising ZnO, Diamond and combinations thereof.
The lateral spin valve reader from the previous description, which has a detector near a bearing surface and a spin injector away from it, connected by a channel layer, where a first shield is in contact with the detector structure and a second shield is in contact with the spin injection structure; where a tunnel barrier sits between the channel and either the detector or injector; where an exterior cladding surrounds the channel to reduce spin-scattering; where the cladding's thickness ranges from 2.5 to 20 nanometers, and the tunnel barrier is thinner than the cladding; where the exterior cladding is made of a semiconductor, is improved because the semiconductor is AlN, an alloy of AlN, GaN, an alloy of GaN, GaAs, an alloy of GaAs, ZnO, an alloy of ZnO, Diamond, or combinations of these.
7. The lateral spin valve reader of claim 1 and wherein the thickness of the tunnel barrier layer is less than or equal to about 1.5 nanometers.
The lateral spin valve reader from the previous description, which has a detector near a bearing surface and a spin injector away from it, connected by a channel layer, where a first shield is in contact with the detector structure and a second shield is in contact with the spin injection structure; where a tunnel barrier sits between the channel and either the detector or injector; where an exterior cladding surrounds the channel to reduce spin-scattering; where the cladding's thickness ranges from 2.5 to 20 nanometers, and the tunnel barrier is thinner than the cladding, is improved because the tunnel barrier layer is less than or equal to 1.5 nanometers thick.
8. The lateral spin valve reader of claim 1 and wherein the tunnel barrier layer is formed of a first material and the exterior cladding is formed of a second material that is different from the first material.
The lateral spin valve reader from the previous description, which has a detector near a bearing surface and a spin injector away from it, connected by a channel layer, where a first shield is in contact with the detector structure and a second shield is in contact with the spin injection structure; where a tunnel barrier sits between the channel and either the detector or injector; where an exterior cladding surrounds the channel to reduce spin-scattering; where the cladding's thickness ranges from 2.5 to 20 nanometers, and the tunnel barrier is thinner than the cladding, is improved because the tunnel barrier layer is made of one material, while the exterior cladding is made of a different material.
9. The lateral spin valve reader of claim 1 and wherein the tunnel barrier layer and the exterior cladding are formed of a same material.
The lateral spin valve reader from the previous description, which has a detector near a bearing surface and a spin injector away from it, connected by a channel layer, where a first shield is in contact with the detector structure and a second shield is in contact with the spin injection structure; where a tunnel barrier sits between the channel and either the detector or injector; where an exterior cladding surrounds the channel to reduce spin-scattering; where the cladding's thickness ranges from 2.5 to 20 nanometers, and the tunnel barrier is thinner than the cladding, is improved because both the tunnel barrier and the exterior cladding are made of the same material.
10. The lateral spin valve reader of claim 1 and wherein the exterior cladding comprises a bilayer including a first layer comprising a first dielectric material and a second layer comprising a second dielectric material that is different from the first dielectric material.
The lateral spin valve reader from the previous description, which has a detector near a bearing surface and a spin injector away from it, connected by a channel layer, where a first shield is in contact with the detector structure and a second shield is in contact with the spin injection structure; where a tunnel barrier sits between the channel and either the detector or injector; where an exterior cladding surrounds the channel to reduce spin-scattering; where the cladding's thickness ranges from 2.5 to 20 nanometers, and the tunnel barrier is thinner than the cladding, is improved because the exterior cladding consists of two layers: one made of a first dielectric material, and the other made of a second, different dielectric material.
11. The lateral spin valve reader of claim 5 and wherein the exterior cladding comprises a semiconductor material having an energy gap that is greater than or equal to about one electron volt.
The lateral spin valve reader from the previous description, which has a detector near a bearing surface and a spin injector away from it, connected by a channel layer, where a first shield is in contact with the detector structure and a second shield is in contact with the spin injection structure; where a tunnel barrier sits between the channel and either the detector or injector; where an exterior cladding surrounds the channel to reduce spin-scattering; where the cladding's thickness ranges from 2.5 to 20 nanometers, and the tunnel barrier is thinner than the cladding; where the exterior cladding is made of a semiconductor, is improved because the semiconductor has an energy gap of at least 1 electron volt.
12. The lateral spin valve reader of claim 2 and wherein the exterior cladding comprises an insulator material having an energy gap that is greater than or equal to about three electron volts.
The lateral spin valve reader from the previous description, which has a detector near a bearing surface and a spin injector away from it, connected by a channel layer, where a first shield is in contact with the detector structure and a second shield is in contact with the spin injection structure; where a tunnel barrier sits between the channel and either the detector or injector; where an exterior cladding surrounds the channel to reduce spin-scattering; where the cladding's thickness ranges from 2.5 to 20 nanometers, and the tunnel barrier is thinner than the cladding; where the exterior cladding is made of an insulator material, is improved because the insulator has an energy gap of at least 3 electron volts.
13. The lateral spin valve reader of claim 1 and wherein the exterior cladding comprises a material having a dielectric constant that is greater than twice a permittivity of free space.
The lateral spin valve reader from the previous description, which has a detector near a bearing surface and a spin injector away from it, connected by a channel layer, where a first shield is in contact with the detector structure and a second shield is in contact with the spin injection structure; where a tunnel barrier sits between the channel and either the detector or injector; where an exterior cladding surrounds the channel to reduce spin-scattering; where the cladding's thickness ranges from 2.5 to 20 nanometers, and the tunnel barrier is thinner than the cladding, is improved because the cladding has a dielectric constant more than twice the permittivity of free space.
14. A lateral spin valve reader comprising: a detector structure having a surface that forms a portion of a bearing surface; a first shield in contact with the detector structure; a spin injection structure located away from the bearing surface; a second shield in contact with the spine injection structure; a channel layer extending from the detector structure to the spin injection structure; a tunnel barrier layer between at least one of the detector structure and the channel layer or the spin injection structure and the channel layer; and an exterior cladding, disposed around the channel layer, configured to suppress spin-scattering at surfaces of the channel layer, wherein the exterior cladding comprises a semiconductor, and wherein a thickness of the tunnel barrier layer is less than a thickness of the exterior cladding relative to the channel layer.
A lateral spin valve reader has a detector near a bearing surface and a spin injector away from it, connected by a channel layer. A first shield is in contact with the detector structure and a second shield is in contact with the spin injection structure. A tunnel barrier sits between the channel and either the detector or injector. An exterior cladding surrounds the channel to reduce spin-scattering, and it is made of a semiconductor material. The tunnel barrier layer is thinner than the exterior cladding.
15. The lateral spin valve reader of claim 14 and wherein the semiconductor is selected from the group consisting of AlN, alloys comprising AlN, GaN, alloys comprising GaN, GaAs, alloys comprising GaAs, ZnO, alloys comprising ZnO, Diamond and combinations thereof.
The lateral spin valve reader from the previous description, which has a detector near a bearing surface and a spin injector away from it, connected by a channel layer, where a first shield is in contact with the detector structure and a second shield is in contact with the spin injection structure; where a tunnel barrier sits between the channel and either the detector or injector; where an exterior cladding surrounds the channel to reduce spin-scattering, and it is made of a semiconductor material, and the tunnel barrier layer is thinner than the exterior cladding, is improved because the semiconductor is AlN, an alloy of AlN, GaN, an alloy of GaN, GaAs, an alloy of GaAs, ZnO, an alloy of ZnO, Diamond, or combinations of these.
16. The lateral spin valve reader of claim 14 and wherein the exterior cladding comprises a semiconductor material having an energy gap that is greater than or equal to about one electron volt.
The lateral spin valve reader from the previous description, which has a detector near a bearing surface and a spin injector away from it, connected by a channel layer, where a first shield is in contact with the detector structure and a second shield is in contact with the spin injection structure; where a tunnel barrier sits between the channel and either the detector or injector; where an exterior cladding surrounds the channel to reduce spin-scattering, and it is made of a semiconductor material, and the tunnel barrier layer is thinner than the exterior cladding, is improved because the semiconductor has an energy gap of at least 1 electron volt.
17. A method of forming a recording head comprising: providing a substrate; forming a bottom shield over the substrate; forming an injector structure and a first portion of a cladding over the bottom shield, wherein the injector structure is in contact with the bottom shield; forming a channel layer over the injector structure and over the first portion of the cladding; forming a second portion of the cladding on sides of the channel layer; forming a detector structure and a third portion of the cladding over the channel layer such that the first portion of the cladding, the second portion of the cladding and the third portion of the cladding surround the channel layer, wherein the detector structure includes a surface that forms a portion of a bearing surface of the recording head; forming a top shield over the detector structure, wherein the top shield is in contact with the detector structure; forming a tunnel barrier layer between at least one of the detector structure and the channel layer or the injector structure and the channel layer, wherein a thickness of the cladding relative to the channel layer is between about 2.5 nanometers and about 20 nanometers, and wherein a thickness of the tunnel barrier layer is less than the thickness of the cladding.
A method for making a recording head involves putting a bottom shield on a substrate, then forming an injector and part of a cladding on top of the bottom shield. The injector touches the bottom shield. A channel layer goes over the injector and the cladding. Then, more cladding is added to the sides of the channel layer. Next, a detector and the remaining cladding surround the channel layer. The detector has a surface that is part of the head's bearing surface. A top shield is put over the detector, touching it. A tunnel barrier is placed between the channel and either the detector or the injector. The cladding is 2.5 to 20 nanometers thick relative to the channel layer, and the tunnel barrier is thinner than the cladding.
18. The method of claim 17 and wherein the cladding comprises a material having an energy gap that is greater than three electron volts.
The method of forming a recording head from the previous description, which involves putting a bottom shield on a substrate, then forming an injector and part of a cladding on top of the bottom shield; where the injector touches the bottom shield; where a channel layer goes over the injector and the cladding; where more cladding is added to the sides of the channel layer; where a detector and the remaining cladding surround the channel layer, where the detector has a surface that is part of the head's bearing surface; where a top shield is put over the detector, touching it; where a tunnel barrier is placed between the channel and either the detector or the injector; where the cladding is 2.5 to 20 nanometers thick relative to the channel layer, and the tunnel barrier is thinner than the cladding, is improved because the cladding has an energy gap of more than 3 electron volts.
19. The method of claim 17 and wherein the cladding comprises a material having a dielectric constant that is greater than twice a permittivity of free space.
The method of forming a recording head from the previous description, which involves putting a bottom shield on a substrate, then forming an injector and part of a cladding on top of the bottom shield; where the injector touches the bottom shield; where a channel layer goes over the injector and the cladding; where more cladding is added to the sides of the channel layer; where a detector and the remaining cladding surround the channel layer, where the detector has a surface that is part of the head's bearing surface; where a top shield is put over the detector, touching it; where a tunnel barrier is placed between the channel and either the detector or the injector; where the cladding is 2.5 to 20 nanometers thick relative to the channel layer, and the tunnel barrier is thinner than the cladding, is improved because the cladding has a dielectric constant greater than twice the permittivity of free space.
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September 26, 2016
July 18, 2017
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